COLUMBIA, 12/26/11 (Beat Byte) -- A Columbia criminal defense and appellate lawyer, David Tyson Smith has been a favored potential candidate for Columbia City Council for his principled stands on issues of fairness and equity.

With Second Ward Councilman Jason Thornhill's recent announcement that he will not seek another term, Tyson Smith is back on the list of people many community members hope will seek the seat.

A leader of the group that formed the Columbia Citizens Police Review Board, Tyson Smith is part of a growing group of younger leaders -- including Tyree Byndom, Lorenzo Lawson -- who take a sophisticated, information-age savvy approach to making political and policy change.

A graduate of Tulane University Law School and Mizzou, Tyson Smith is in the criminal defense business, but that doesn't stop him from crying foul when criminal prosecutions are lacking, as he did in this 2006 Columbia Tribune letter demanding law enforcement action to take an "armed and dangerous criminal assailant" off the streets.